Scottish Premiership Review: Celtic back to winning ways, Hearts march on

There were wins for Hearts, Celtic and Aberdeen as the trio continue to set the pace in the Scottish Premiership.

Published

15 August 2015

Celtic returned to winning ways with a convincing 4-2 victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

The defending champions dropped points in midweek as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Kilmarnock, but established a healthy early lead that laid the foundations for victory at Celtic Park.

Headed goals from Mikael Lustig and Leigh Griffiths saw the hosts 2-0 up after 12 minutes and Stuart Armstrong struck twice in the second period to open up a four-goal advantage.

The win looked to be in the bag but, two minutes after Armstrong's second, Ryan Christie pulled one back for Inverness before Dani Lopez ensured a less comfortable last 10 minutes for Celtic than they would have expected at 4-0 up.

Ronny Deila's men did, though, hold on for the three points.

Wednesday's draw had allowed Hearts to open up a two-point lead at the top of the division and the Edinburgh club preserved that cushion with a 2-1 win at Ross County.

Early goals from Osman Sow and Alim Ozturk put them in the driving seat, while Liam Boyce's 39th-minute penalty produced Ross' only goal as Hearts made it four wins from four Premiership matches this term.

Aberdeen have a game in hand over the top two and remain hot on the heels of Celtic after coming from behind to beat Motherwell 2-1, while Dundee defeated St Johnstone by the same scoreline.

Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock remain winless this season after playing out a 2-2 draw at Firhill, Kris Boyd equalising five minutes from time after Kris Doolan had restored Thistle's lead with his second goal of the match.

Thistle played the last 25 minutes with 10 men after Liam Lindsay saw red for a foul on Mark O'Hara.

In the day's remaining fixture Hamilton Academical registered their first win of the season, thumping Dundee United 4-0.